Lewis daet



(No Model.)

L. DART.

. SALT CELLAR.

No. 393,324. x Patented Nov. 20, 1888.

Z 5 M %Mz 10- moL Z SJ V M 'DNITED STATES PATENT FFECE.

LEWIS DART, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE HARTFORD NOVELTY COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

SALT-CELLAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 393,324, dated November 20, 1888 Applicalion filed September 5, 1887. Serial No. 248.773. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEWIS DART, of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Salt-Cellars, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact descrip tion, whereby any one skilled in the art can make and use the same.

My invention relates to the class of devices particularly intended for table use; and its object is to provide a salt-cellar with means for preventing the caking up of the salt that is caused by the vapor or moisture in the air.

To this end my improvement consists in a salt-cellar provided with a cover having a central opening, in combination with a valve having its stem located in this central opening, in which it has lateral. as well as longitudinal play, the said stem bearing on its inner end an adjustable stop for limiting the outward movement of the valve, as more particularly hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claim.

Referring to the drawings that form a part of this specification, Figure l is a side view of a salt-cellar embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a detail view in central section of the cap having an alternate form of valve and a screwstein on which the stop is adjustable. Fig. 3 is a detail bottom view of the cap, showing the form of the stop in plan.

The main difficulty. attending the use of saltcellars that have been made prior to my invention has been the clogging up with damp or moist salt of the openings in the cover through which the salt is intended to be shaken. In allof the old form's this dii'iiculty is present; but in my device it is avoided in part by locating the stem of the valve in the outlet through which the salt is intended to pass, the opening being large enough to allow of a lateral movement of the stem, as well as a lengthwise movement, for the purpose of clearing this outlet in case the salt should be so damp as to tend to clog in the outlet, while the adjustability of the stop on the valve aids in adapting the cellar to the various conditions of the In the accompanying drawings, the letter a denotes the body of the cellar, which may be of any suitable material and of any desired form, but preferably with the upper end broad and of such shape inside as to allow the surplus salt to fall freely back into the vessel when placed upon its bottom. The cover or cap bis removably attached to the cellar, as by means of a screw-thread, and in the center of the broad top I) of the cover is provided an opening, b A valve, 0, is fitted in this opening and overlies the upper part sufficiently to hold it in place on the top of the cover. The stem 0' of the valve is smaller in diameter than the opening b and it has on its lower end an adjustable stop, (I, that by contact with the under side'of the cover limits the opening mo vement of the valve when the salt-cellar is reversed. The valve and its connected stem and stop are of sulficient weight to cause it to open when the salt-cellar is reversed, and the opening 1) is of sufficient diameter to enable salt to be poured out in the desired quantity for use, the particles striking the under surface of the valve and being broken up and distributed as they fall from the cellar.

An advantage of this construction of the parts of cover, valve, and stop is that by grasping the valve the stop may be used to break up and thoroughly clear the mouth of the saltcellar and the outlet by twisting upon the valve and moving it sidewise and lengthwise. I have found by somewhat extended use and experiment, however, that myimproved formof saltcellar as above described is much less liable to become at all clogged than the old forms of salt-ce1lars.

The stem of the valve is provided at one end with a thread, and the stop is provided with a threaded socket fitting upon the stem, so as to permit of an adjustment of the stop and valve toward and from each other. The object of this arrangement is to regulate the distance that the valve may be moved from the annular opening, and in this manner regulate the quantity of salt that may be thrown from the cellar at one time.

I am aware that it is not new to provide a salt-cellar with a movable stirrer held within the body of the cellar, and also that it is not new to provide a salt-cellar with a movable valve located upon the outside of the cover and adapted to close or open outlets in the cover through which salt is to be shaken, and such construction I do not broadly claim.

The valve'stem in my improved salt-cellar is located in the outletpassage that is the only means of egress of the salt from the cellar, and the lengthwise movement of the stem in this outlet keeps it clear, owing to the weight of the valve and its sidewise as well as lengthwise movement in the opening, and this forms the main distinction between my improvement and the old structures.

LEWIS DART.

Witnesses:

CHAS. L. BURDETT, A. B. JENKINS. 

